After being held to 16 points by the Knicks in the fourth quarter in the opener, Boston didn’t exactly light it up down the stretch in Game Two, managing just 17 points in the last stanza. And now, thanks to blowing 20-point leads in both games, the Celtics find themselves down 2-0 and heading to New York. Uh oh.

Their reward? A date with the East’s top team, the Cleveland Cavaliers.

In 2020-21, the Houston Rockets bottomed out with a .236 winning percentage and have been steadily building since. At first, there were some baby steps (.244 in 2021-22 before .268 the following season). But last season, Houston finished .500 and then took it to the next level in 2024-25, posting a .634 winning percentage to punch its first playoff ticket since 2019-20.

Since bottoming out in 2021-22, the Orlando Magic has been a team on the rise, improving to 34 wins the following season before taking the leap to 47 last season, when it snapped a three-year playoff drought.

Now let’s see if they can get past the Eastern semifinals this season.

The Phoenix Suns had a solid season in 2023-24, winning 49 games, but a first round playoff loss left them wanting more. However, after a dominant 8-1 start, things have gone massively downhill for Phoenix, as we alluded to above.